Zelda Ocarina of Time Dethroned?

For years, many gamers have all agreed to one simple fact: The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64 was one of the greatest games, if not the best, in video game history. Since its release in 1998, many other games have laid claim its title and failed. This time around, however, a game has come along that may finally achieve what so many others could not: “But what game?”

Thing is, there is never only 1 amazing game. There's tons of genres, styles, and preferences. Some would say Final Fantasy VII is the best game ever. Some would say Pokemon is. Others would say that Ocarina of Time, or Uncharted, or Halo, or any other game are the best. Ocarina of Time is an amazing game. But no game can truly be "the best".

Haha, dated. I'd say it's held up pretty well over the past 14 years.. If you're talking graphics, then yeah. Now, with 14 years of advancements in technology the game doesn't hold up well with modern visuals.

Although: the story, the gameplay, the level design, the open world, the memorability, the characters, the amount of variety, the innovation and so much more would not only hold their own with modern games, but would destroy them.

Srsly, I replayed the game on my n64 this summer and it's crazy how good the game plays after 12 yrs of game innovations. Games like Goldeneye have lost pretty much all enjoyment due to how terrible the controls are compared to games nowadays, while OoT is still flawless in it's control scheme. Graphics are dated of course but it still provides a great atmosphere with the music and art style.

Won't lie though that I prefer it's sequel Majoras Mask cuz IMO it had a darker atmosphere and loved it's music more (Last Day is amazing)

Zelda OoT was a really fun game to play, but it will not be named my favorite game of all time. Kirby's Nightmare in Dreamland was one of the best experiences of all time for me. Donkey Kong Country, inFAMOUS, Uncharted 2, a lot of Mario games, God of War, Grand Theft Auto. It's really hard choosing an all time favorite!

Sadly, I didn't have the luxury of owning a N64 to play Zelda OoT. It was either a Nintendo 64 or a Playstation and we got the Playstation. I definitely missed out on a great game. But if the nostalgic feelings people have for Zelda OoT are anything like how I feel about Mega man Legends 1/2, then I can see where the majority of Zelda OoT fans are coming from.

When you find a game that makes you feel like you went on a journey, that's a feeling every gamer deserves to have and cherish. It's one of the main reason I prefer games above other entertainment. I'm excited to see what the next game will be that gives us that feeling in the future.

It was dethroned by DarkSouls imo, those that are saying it was dethroned by the linear setpiece driven Indiana Jones wannabe 6 hour game that is Uncharted 2 are incredibly lol worthy, yeah it was pretty but it's like comparing Schindler's List to The A-team.

Saying that, for me Mario 64 was always the better game and Halo CE had a bigger impact on me too.

From a gameplay, control and game design perspective, the industry has advanced a lot since OOT was released. As a result, there are a lot of games that are actually better than Zelda OOT, not only from other IPs, but also within the Zelda franchise itself. Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword are all better games.

But from a historic perspective (regarding the impact and influence that this game caused in the industry), I can't think of a single modern game that's had the importance that OOT had. Although to be honest, I won't give Ocarina all the credit when it comes to innovation, because I think Super Mario 64 is just as important as OOT was, if not more.

That being said, OOT has aged gracefully. The 3DS version is amazing, and for a 3D game being still great even 14 years after its initial release... that's no small feat.

Still... as much as I do like OOT, there's actually several more recent games that I actually like a lot more. Comparing a 14 year old game with more modern ones isn't exactly fair.

In that case Mario Galaxy must be pretty average. Sunshine came off to me as a great tech demo in which you can spend ages messing around in the bub world but not a massively great game (the levels themselves are very workmanlike and non-fantastical), compared to Rare's N64 platformers.
Miyamoto concentrated on The Wind Waker and merely 'oversaw' Sunshine. As a result, I see Sunshine as more of a stepping stone on the way to making Galaxy.

Although the facts are straight and this is written very well with a level head there are elements of each game that were not compared and it can be considered flawed logic.

Not that this is a point to really but I look at the subject like this. Ocarina of Time is a game that will never be forgotten and quite simply Mario Galaxy will soon be forgotten and replaced with something better.

People generally have biases towards adventure games rather than plaftrom games because the former have pretensions to being more 'meaningful'. If people lead lives that were more meaningful they wouldn't need to play its equivalent in a game and would instead be able to enjoy the underrated aspects of level design, as shown in platform games, rather than dubious plot hooks on self-appointed 'quests'.

So what would you say to those that claim ffVII or MGS is the best game ever?
OoT was the highest rated game for a LONG time and reviewers own all consoles so that argument is invalid. OoT earned the title with a great story, beatiful world, innovative gameplay and so on. There was simply nothing else like it.
However, I agree that N64 owners would bring the game on N64 vs PS wars, but it really wasnt the reason for the games status.

Yes it was. In so far as FF7 goes? Not only is that over rated, it's not even very good. MGS is hailed as a great game, as it should be, but it was not without its flaws and people could recognize them.

By that point MGS was just one of many block buster titles. The PS1 didn't "need" it to feel like it had a reason to be there.

You're also making assumptions about the lack of bias on the part of reviewers who are just as glad as anyone else to see something finally come to a console. A breath of fresh air for them if you would.

OoT is a great game, but it does not deserve this legendary status of unassailable greatness. It has plenty of flaws just like MGS does. If any Zelda game deserves to be that highly rated, its the first one.